Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A

Toxic/Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering

ISSN: 1093-4529 (Print) 1532-4117 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lesa20

Public Awareness Is Key to Successful Waste

Management

S. E. Hasan

To cite this article: S. E. Hasan (2004) Public Awareness Is Key to Successful Waste
Management, Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 39:2, 483-492, DOI: 10.1081/
ESE-120027539

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1081/ESE-120027539

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 JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND HEALTH
Part A—Toxic/Hazardous Substances & Environmental Engineering
Vol. A39, No. 2, pp. 483–492, 2004

Public Awareness Is Key to Successful

Waste Management

S. E. Hasan*

Center for Applied Environmental Research, Department of Geosciences,

University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

ABSTRACT

A critical component in any waste management program is public awareness and

participation, in addition to appropriate legislation, strong technical support, and
adequate funding. Waste is the result of human activities and everyone needs
to have a proper understanding of waste management issues, without which the
success of even the best conceived waste management plan becomes questionable.
The paper presents an overview of the fundamentals of waste management
and, using examples from the United States, illustrates how public awareness and
participation results in successful waste management. Examples of the methods
and techniques that have been very effective in creating and enhancing public
awareness of waste management problems, including the author’s proven method
of public education, are presented in the paper. The details of a course aimed
at educating school teachers on waste management issues and a specialized
curriculum on waste and litter control, designed for kindergarten through 8th
grade students and developed by the author, are discussed in the paper.
A case study dealing with remediation of one of the worst contaminated
hazardous waste sites in the United States, that included substantial public
participation, is reviewed. The paper concludes by emphasizing that the public

*Correspondence: S. E. Hasan, Center for Applied Environmental Research, Department

of Geosciences, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO 64110-2499, USA; E-mail:
hasans@umkc.edu.

483

DOI: 10.1081/ESE-120027539 1093-4529 (Print); 1532-4117 (Online)

Copyright & 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com
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484 Hasan

must be made aware of waste management issues to understand the consequences

of improper management of waste and how it may ultimately pose a serious
threat to their lives and well-being.

Key Words: Waste management; Public awareness; Waste curriculum;

Environmental education; Tri-State mining district.

INTRODUCTION

From time immemorial humans have depended on the earth to meet their need
for food, shelter, and well-being. Whereas the demand on the earth and its resources
was minimal in the early period of human history, modern age has placed a far
greater burden on the earth and its resources to provide not only food, clean water
and, air but also a wide variety of metals, nonmetals and fuels to sustain our life
style. However, in order to manufacture the products that we need on a day-to-day
basis, we generate a complex stream of waste materials, many of which are highly
toxic.
Humans are the key element in the waste cycle: we are the ones responsible for
extraction and processing of mineral resources for making everything from food
products, paper, plastics, and chemicals to automobiles, ammunition, electronic
goods, etc., that modern society is so much dependent upon. This complex process of
converting raw materials into useful products generates a large volume of waste that
ends up somewhere on the earth. Figure 1 illustrates the various stages in the waste
cycle.
Depending upon how well a society is aware of the nature of waste it generates
and its potential impact on health and environment, a waste management practice

[5]
Figure 1. The waste cycle (Adopted from Keller ).
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Public Awareness Is Key to Successful Waste Management 485

could be considered satisfactory and environmentally benign, or it could be a case of

gross mismanagement of waste with dire consequences on human health and the
environment. Again, the key element in these contrasting scenarios is the human
factor.

Types of Waste

The nature and quantity of waste generated in a society is a direct function of its
level of affluence and industrialization. A highly industrialized society generates
large quantities of waste that includes: (i) municipal solid waste (MSW) or common
garbage, (ii) hazardous or industrial waste, (iii) biological or medical waste, and (iv)
nuclear or radioactive waste. Developing nations generate large quantities of MSW
and hazardous waste, considerable amounts of medical waste but small amounts of
nuclear waste. On the other hand, undeveloped nations with a low standard of living
generate smaller quantities and relatively simple types of waste, bulk of which
happens to be MSW. Table 1 summarizes the quantity of MSW generated in various
countries of the world and shows that affluent nations, with high GNP, tend to be
more wasteful. For example, the largest quantity of waste, more than 400 kg/person/
year, was generated in countries where the GNP is over $20 000/person/year. On the
other hand, small quantity of waste, of the order of 146–256 kg/person/year, came
from countries with GNP of under $1000. There are some exceptions, notably Dubai
in UAE, which generated the highest quantity, yet its GNP is below $ 20 000.

Steps in Waste Management

Solid waste management comprises a series of steps that involves both the
individual and the industry. A generalized sequence of steps in solid waste
management is given below.
Source (generator) ! Separation/Sorting (individual) ! Collection !
Transportation ! Separation/Sorting (industry) ! Processing/Recycling !
Residual disposal.
A marked difference exists between the attitude of an informed and
environmentally aware person and that of an uninformed and environmentally
illiterate individual. Whereas the former conscientiously segregates metals, glass,
plastics, and paper at the source for recycling, the latter puts them all together in a
common container. In addition, hazardous household products like, used batteries,
leftover cleaning solutions, paints, etc. are held back from the waste stream by the
aware individual for later deposit at a designated household hazardous waste
collection facility. In contrast, an unaware person mixes hazardous waste with other
household waste causing them to end up in a landfill with the potential for leaching
of harmful metals, organic chemicals, and other toxic substances, leading to
environmental degradation. Such practice can be eliminated and the undesirable
attitude modified by undertaking a sustained campaign of public education and
awareness that should be spearheaded by public and private organizations.
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486 Hasan

Table 1. Relative quantities of solid waste generated in selected

cities.

GNP, per capita, Quantity,

City, Country US $ kg/person/day (year)

Africa
Accra, Ghana 390 0.4 (146)
Cairo, Egypt 790 0.5 (182.5)
Ibadan, Nigeria 260 1.1 (401.5)
Tunis, Tunisia 1,820 0.5 (182.5)
Asia
Amman, Jordan 1,510 0.6 (219)
Dhaka, Bangladesh 240 0.1 (36.5)
Dubai, UAE 17,400 2.3 (839.5)
Kathmandu, Nepal 200 0.5 (182.5)
Lahore, Pakistan 460 1.2 (438)
Manila, Philippines 1,050 0.7 (255.5)
New Delhi, India 340 1.2 (438)
Sana, Yemen 260 0.8 (292)
Shanghai, China 620 0.8 (292)
Europe
Amsterdam, Netherlands 24,000 1.1 (401.5)
Athens, Greece 8,210 1.1 (401.5)
Budapest, Hungary 4,120 0.5 (182.5)
Cardiff, U.K. 18,700 0.8 (292)
Copenhagen, Denmark 29,800 1.4 (511)
Leipzig, Germany 27,510 1.2 (438)
Moscow, Russia 2,240 0.8 (292)
Paris, France 24,900 1.3 (474.5)
Stockholm, Sweden 23,750 1.2 (438)
Tirana, Albania 670 0.7 (255.5)
Warsaw, Poland 2,790 0.5 (182.5)
North America
Toronto, Canada 19,390 1.4 (511)
New York, USA 26,980 1.7 (620.5)
South America
Bogotá, Columbia 1,910 0.5 (182.5)
Havana, Cuba — 1.6 (584)
Lima, Peru 2,310 0.5 (182.5)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 3,640 1.1 (401.5)

Source—World Resources 1998–99.[7]

COMMON WASTE MANAGEMENT APPROACHES

The most common approach toward waste management is to develop a set of

environmental laws with detailed rules and regulations that aim at proper
management of waste. The law is implemented at the local level, ensuring that the
waste is properly handled, containerized or packaged, transported by an authorized
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Public Awareness Is Key to Successful Waste Management 487

transportation company, and disposed of at a licensed facility. The responsibility to

enforce the laws rests with the federal or state authorities, who may impose stiff
fines or, in some countries, criminal penalties for noncompliance with the
laws. Experience, however, shows that the desired results are not achieved by rule
making alone unless the laws are strictly enforced. No matter how much resources
are allocated for enforcement, there can never be enough inspectors, trained
personnel, or equipment to get hold of all violators. The only way most violators
can be caught is through ‘leads’ from the public. Public participation plays a vital
role in providing critical information to law enforcement agencies. For example, a
citizen who is knowledgeable about potential hazards associated with illegal
dumping of solid or hazardous waste, will upon discovering one, inform the
enforcement personnel or tip-off the agency about presence of illegal dumps because
he is the one most familiar with the neighborhood and the kind of activities that
occur there.
There may still be cases of noncompliance, some of which are result of ignorance
of law, which is not considered an excuse by legal courts. For example, a recent case
of prosecution of the president of a snowboard manufacturing company in San
Diego, California, highlights the consequences of ignoring environmental laws and
how it resulted in the downfall of a successful business.[1]
Large-scale corruption is yet another problem, common in many developing
countries, that makes proper waste management an extremely difficult task.
Influential business owners when caught for noncompliance usually do not get
prosecuted. This is a most unfortunate situation because it perpetuates illegal
dumping of solid and hazardous waste to the detriment of public health and
the environment. Such practices must stop and the respective countries should think
of long-term environmental cost as opposed to immediate, short-term economic
gains.
While developed nations have a good record of compliance with environmen-
tal laws, occasional cases of noncompliance do occur. However, unlike the
undeveloped countries, once caught the violator is subjected to the laws that result
in the business owner paying heavy fines and/or serving jail term. For example, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the provision of the Clean Air Act and
its 1990 amendments, has been given immense legal powers. The EPA can impose
fines ranging from $25 000 to $1 000 000 and prison terms of up to 15 years for
violation of the laws. Even the president or the CEO of a company is not immune
from the law.[2] In a recent case, the co-owners of an electronic company in New
York were jailed for 28 and 29 months for dumping hazardous waste into the ground
and sewers in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the
Clean Water Act.[3]
Not much can be done about people who are knowledgeable about environ-
mental issues but are driven by greed or self-interest to commit environmental
crimes. But a great deal can be done by educating people and impressing upon them
the consequences of illegal dumping and improper waste management that may
create life-threatening conditions. Such programs would go a long way in ensuring a
heightened awareness on waste management issues that will serve as a deterrent
against illegal dumping and other environmental crimes.
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488 Hasan

CASE STUDIES

Four case studies are presented to highlight the importance of public awareness
and participation in successful waste management programs. Three of these deal
with environmental education and the fourth illustrates how public awareness results
in everyone working together to ensure that a highly contaminated abandoned
mining region is successfully remediated to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Waste and Litter Control Curriculum

Researchers in the field of education have long recognized that one of the most
effective ways to create life-long environmental awareness among the citizens is to
begin with school children. In order to include environmental education in school
curriculum, civic leaders in the city of Kansas City, Missouri requested an
environmental educator to prepare a curriculum on waste and litter control, suitable
for children in Kindergarten through 8th Grade, for use in the Kansas City Missouri
schools. The Center for Applied Environmental Research (CAER) at the University
of Missouri-Kansas City was contacted to do the work. Several meetings were held
with the city officials and school teachers to determine the overall scope and content
of the work. Drawing upon the inputs from everyone, CAER prepared a curriculum
designed for students in grades K through eight. Recognizing the difference in age
and academic levels of children, the curriculum included materials and activities that
could be easily modified for various grades. These activities were designed for use
in the arts, language, social studies, science, and math classes. Several hands-on
activities, both indoor and outdoors, and adaptable to various grades, were also
included in the curriculum.[4]

Short Course for School Teachers

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) promotes

innovation in environmental education through an annual solicitation for proposals
involving new approaches to environmental education. This on-going funding
program was established in 1992 and over the past 12 years EPA has awarded about
$30 million to hundreds of individual researchers and organizations.
In 1993, the author received an Environmental Education grant from the EPA
to design and conduct a short course for school teachers on issues in waste
management. The course included 16 h of classroom instructions and discussions and
covered topics like waste types, sources, disposal methods, recycling and waste
reduction, public awareness and participation, and environmental laws. An analysis
of the course evaluation from the participants, revealed some interesting facts. The
most notable was a gross lack of awareness of the waste management problems on
part of the participants. The course helped the teachers realize the importance of
proper handling and management of wastes. Many of the teachers indicated that
they will include some aspects of waste management issues in their classroom
teaching.
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Public Awareness Is Key to Successful Waste Management 489

College Course

Based on the success of the short course for school teachers, the author took the
initiative of offering an expanded version of the course for college students. The
course was first offered in fall 1994 through the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s
continuing education program. It was later included as a regular course offering of
the Geosciences Department.
Issues in Waste Management is a survey course and includes discussion on
various aspects of waste management. The course does not have any prerequisite
and is primarily designed for nonscience majors. It is a one-credit course, offered on
weekends or evenings. This course attracts students from all disciplines, including
those majoring in liberal arts, education, earth science, psychology, computer
science, engineering, music, accounting, business as well as graduate students from
many disciplines.
An interesting and most rewarding part of the course is the evaluation that it
received from the students at the end of the course. In addition to overall satisfaction
with the course, the response from students to the question: ‘‘In 8–10 sentences
describe how the course has helped increase your awareness of the environment?’’
has almost always been ‘‘ I had no idea that we have such a serious problem with
waste. I have decided, I will do everything possible to help the environment by doing
simple things, such as energy and water conservation and recycling.’’ Such comments
and feedback have revealed that environmental education is the key to making
citizens aware of waste management issues and that such education should be an
integral part of each student’s learning.

Jasper County Superfund Site

Jasper County is located in the SW corner of the State of Missouri; it had a

population of 104 686 in the year 2000, with children up to five years comprising 7%
of the population. Jasper County, along with the surrounding Cherokee County in
Kansas, and Ottawa County in Oklahoma, was the center of activity during the
heydays of lead and zinc mining in a mineralized province, referred to as the Tri-
State Mining District in geologic literature. The region includes southwest Missouri,
southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma (Fig. 2).
Jasper County is one of three counties where massive clean up operations are
underway to rid the region of heavy metal contamination. While the environmental
problems are similar in the three counties, Jasper County is used as an illustration
because it represents a very successful remediation program that, to a large extent,
resulted from citizens’ awareness and participation. Lead and zinc ores were mined
for over a century, beginning around the 1850s. Most mining ended by the 1950s but
some smelting operations continued until the 1970s. Century-old mining and refining
activities generated a total of 250 million tons of waste in the Tri-State District. As a
result of mining and smelting a large volume of Pb, Zn, and Cd got released into the
environment and contaminated surface and groundwater, land, and soils. A shallow
aquifer that was the source of drinking water supply to local communities was
declared unsuitable because high concentrations of Pb and Cd were found that
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490 Hasan

Figure 2. Location of the Tri-State Mining District in the U.S. Midwest.

exceeded the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for drinking water. People living
in the area were found to have a higher incidence of anemia, chronic skin disease,
heart disease, and skin cancer than in the nearby areas. Ten to 20% of children 6–72
months old were found to have blood lead levels exceeding the maximum health
guidelines of 10 mg/dL. As a result of serious threat to public health, the U.S. EPA in
1985, placed some of the worst contaminated sites in the Tri-State District on its
National Priority List (NPL) for prompt remedial actions.[5]
The Jasper County Superfund Site is an excellent example of public awareness
on waste management issues and how an active partnership between citizens,
government officials, city administrators, business, educational institutions, and
health officials, can lead to a successful clean up. Some of the highlights of public
education and awareness program include:
(i) Formulation of a Citizens’ Advisory Group (CAG) that included: bankers,
city and county officials, residents, public school officials and teachers, and state
officials, (ii) close coordination with the media for publicity and wider dissemination
of information, (iii) regular participation of health professionals to discuss potential
health problems resulting from lead contamination and to share results of their
toxicological and epidemiological studies, (iv) prompt distribution of information to
citizens through timely media release and open public meetings, and (v) initiation of
a massive campaign on lead awareness education to inform homeowners, school
teachers, day care center staff, and real estate personnel of the hazards of lead
poisoning. A special training program for physicians, nurses, and other health
professionals, focusing on diagnosis and treatment of lead poisoning, was also
implemented.
The awareness program resulted in full support and willing cooperation from
everyone involved in the clean up process. This greatly facilitated the job of the EPA,
which is in charge of the clean up action. It also resulted in active participation of the
parties that were responsible for causing the pollution in the first place. This included
some major mining and mineral corporations (ASARCO; St. Joe Mineral Co; etc.,)
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Public Awareness Is Key to Successful Waste Management 491

who paid for a part of the clean up cost. To make children aware of lead hazards,
area schools decided to include lead education in their K-12 curriculum. In addition,
boys and girls scout teams also received lead education. Real estate agents now use
information on lead hazard in their disclosure statement that is required whenever a
property changes hand.
Judging from the above, it can be summarized that the key factors in the
success of the remediation program were: (i) public awareness of lead hazard, (ii)
formation of CAG, (iii) active participation of citizens, (iv) honest and objective
communication, and (v) supportive media and press.

CONCLUSIONS

It has been demonstrated that without active public participation no level of

laws or enforcements can produce the desired result of satisfactory management of
waste. Citizens must be made aware of the problems associated with mismanagement
of waste; because if left unmanaged, it may become a matter of life and death.
Education, at all levels, is the proven way of bringing about such awareness. An
environmentally aware citizenry along with a determined leadership in the govern-
ment would ensure that wastes that will continue to be generated in the future will be
properly managed, thereby eliminating risk to their lives and assuring a clean and
healthy environment for future generations.
One of the first and foremost step in creating a group of citizens with life-long
commitment to environmental protection is waste education that should be available
to children at a very young age. Abundant materials in the field of environmental
education, appropriate for grades as low as kindergarten, are available from many
public and private organizations in the United States and other countries. Most of
these organizations have put such materials on their websites that are readily
accessible to anyone anywhere in the world. The best thing about waste education is
that its main concepts could be easily integrated in various subjects that students are
taught in schools.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Developing countries should embark upon waste awareness education for all
sectors of their societies. In addition to creating public awareness through media
advertising, waste education should be made mandatory and be included in the
school curricula right from kindergarten to high school levels.
A great deal can be learned from the experience of developed countries, such as
the United States, and how they have addressed waste management issues. Waste
management is everyone’s responsibility, because no matter who we are, how and
where we live, or what jobs we do, we are all generating waste. To make the waste
awareness program successful, participation from all government agencies and
departments is necessary—a task that should not be left to a single department or
agency. Waste management is a problem common to everyone and it requires a
collaborative approach for its solution.
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492 Hasan

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is thankful to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for

providing information on the Jasper County Superfund Site, and to the Kuwait
Environmental Protection Society for inviting me to the conference.

REFERENCES

1. Miller, J. Environmental time. Environmental Protection 2001, 22 (16), 8–10.

2. Hasan, S.E. Geology and Hazardous Waste Management; Prentice Hall: Upper
Saddle River, N.J., 1996; 387 p.
3. Environmental Resource Center. Environmental Tip of the Week, July 13, 2001.
http://www.ercweb.com/choosetip.html.
4. Hasan, S.E. A Curriculum on Litter and Waste Education Designed for K-8th
Grades, Kansas City, Missouri Schools. Unpublished Report, Center for
Applied Environmental Geology, Department of Geosciences, University of
Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, July 1999; 30 p.
5. Pierzynski, G.M.; Sims, J.T.; Vance, G.F. Soils and Environmental Quality,
2nd Ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2000; 268–70 p.
6. Keller, E.A. Environmental Geology, 8th Ed.; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River,
N.J., 2000; 562 p.
7. World Resources 1998–1999. World Resources Institute. Oxford University
Press: NewYork, NY, 1998; 369 p.
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